Chile

Chile is as diverse as it is narrow, defined by the mountain range to the east and the ocean to the west. Its landscape ranges from rugged mountains in the south to the driest desert in the world in the north and everything in between.

Chile's Fast Facts

Language

Spanish

Capital City

Santiago

Currency

Chilean Peso

Budget Range

$ - $$

Visa Info (learn more here)

Find out what kind of visa you need here.

Regions of Chile

Quick Resources to Plan Your Trip to Chile

Top Destinations in Chile

Santiago

Southern Patagonia

Northern Patagonia

Easter Island

Atacama Desert

Itineraries to Help You Plan Your Trip to Chile (By Region)

Chile is a long and culturally rich country. For a 16 day itinerary (2 weeks) consider visiting 3 regions to be able to best enjoy and maximize your vacation time and remain cognizant of the amount of time it takes to get between regions.

Know Before You Go to Chile

Spanish

Note: If you are proficient in Spanish, be prepared for a particularly unique accent and a lot of slang words in the Chilean Spanish.

hola

OH-la

hello

gracias

GRAH-see-ahs

thank you

por favor

POHR FAH-vohr

please

no entiendo

NOH ehn-tyEN-doh

I don’t understand

¿Hablas inglés?

hah-BLAHS een-GLEHS

do you speak english?

buenos días, buen día (inf.)

BWEN-hos DEE-as, BWEN DEE-a

good morning

buenas tardes, buenas (inf.)

BWEN-ahs TAR-des, BWEN-ahs

good afternoon (until sunset)

¡chau! / hasta luego

CHOW / AH-sta loo-EH-goh

bye! / see you later (also used as “bye”)

buenas noches, buenas (inf.)

BWEN-ahs NOH-ches, BWEN-ahs

good evening or goodnight

¿Dónde está el baño?

DOH-ndeh ehs-TAH EHL BAH-nyoh

where is the bathroom? (IMPORTANT: women’s restrooms are often indicated with an M (mujer=woman)

¿Me da ___, por favor?

MEH DA ___ POHR FAH-vohr

Can i have ___ please? (casual but polite way to order food and drinks)

Quisiera ___, por favor

KEE-see-yehr-ah ___ POHR FAH-vohr

I would like ___ please. (formal and polite way to order food and drinks)

buen provecho

BWEN proh-VE-choh

Enjoy your food or meal. (People may use the phrase as they walk by someone eating when in a restaurant. Waiters will say this phrase when they serve you your meal)

Tipping

Tipping is definitely appreciated in Chile for restaurants and bars with tableside service. It is standard to leave 10% in cash either at the table or directly to the server. It is important to remember for tours that you take that are “free walking tours”, make sure to tip $20 in Chilean pesos.

Volcanoes and Earthquakes

Because Chile lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, there are risks of earthquakes. The Ring of Fire is a chain of geothermally active regions that go all around the Pacific Ocean and fall along various fault lines. Most of Chile lies along the Peru-Chile trench of the Nazca plate. It is this geological formation that made the mountains that lie between Chile and Argentina.

Parts of the Chile, especially in the Chilean Lakes District region of Patagonia (Northern Patagonia) are located near active volcanoes, some of which have erupted in the last 100 years. In fact, the volcano of Villarrica is permanently erupting, emitting low levels of gas, smoke, and some lava. (This can be seen at night and is one of the things that attracts people to the Villarrica region). Activity within the volcanic zones is carefully monitored and communicated to people within the region.